Friday, January 4, 2008

WhopperChomper & ToastedBun made a surprise visit to Dea’s In & Out in Gresham while visiting WC’s parents – hence the poor camera-phone photos. A childhood favorite of WhopperChomper’s mom (Dea’s has been around a while), Dea’s In & Out has been kicking out rocking burgers on home-made buns in Gresham for a VERY long time.

According to lore (as told by WhopperChomper’s mom) Dea’s used to buy the buns from a local bakery, but they bought the recipe when the bakery went out of business and have been making them in-house ever since. Dea’s specializes in the Longburger ($2.50) and it comes with special sauce, pickles & onions on request. You can add Bacon & Cheese for $1.15. There’s also a Double Longburger ($3.35) or a Shortburger ($1.25 – think ‘slider’) as well as something called a “Ranch Burger” and the “Stumpy” burger ($4.25). Those have some combination of egg & ham.

WhopperChomper & ToastedBun both went for the Longburger w/ bacon & cheese ($3.65). We both love the burgers – the treatment is reminiscent of a giant slider style burger. They come wrapped in a napkin within and a wax-paper bag, and they’re just messy enough that you’ll need to grab an extra wad of napkins on your way to the table. The buns and special sauce make the burger, and the geriatric-esque clientele make the experience. What you won’t find at Dea’s is a fancy 1/2 lb Strawberry Mountain beef hamburger. I love those too – but every once in a while you want a burger that’s a little less pretentious... Dea’s is certainly that.

WhopperChomper vows to make a return visit with the REAL digital camera to document Dea’s in all its glory.